Chapter 94: |
To some people, Rosaline had been a mage from birth, but that wasn’t true. Rosaline was just an ordinary human and an ordinary knight with decent skills. Not only was she not strong enough to defeat Nestor, a son of Sihorge and a renowned swordsman, but she wasn’t good enough to intercept the assassins seeking the life of the 2nd Prince. That child wasn’t strong enough to tear through the ranks of the Black Moon and survive against their secret weapon.
Before seeing the ‘It’ wearing his daughter’s skin, Fertan had first visited the Baltan battlefield where she’d fought. Seeing the disastrous sight of broken and scattered flesh rotting in the damp moisture, Fertan was finally fully aware that the woman wasn’t Rosaline.
He’d always thought his Rosaline would die. However, she survived longer than he’d expected. Although she had decent enough skills, it wasn’t enough to stand beside 2nd Prince Ricardis’, who led a life filled with danger. He foresaw Rosaline’s death. It was not surprising because it was a fate that the wrong circumstances could deliver at any time.
“Why are you hiding that I am not the original Rosaline?”
Fertan looked around in bewilderment. Fortunately, no one passed them. How could she say ‘I’m not Rosaline…’ so blatantly in an open space?
“It’s not for you. I only did so because it could endanger the Radwiells.”
“Aren’t you sad?”
Fertan stopped walking. Rosaline also followed him to a halt.
His eyes were wide, and his sizable frame cut a daunting figure, but his tone was calm.
“Since then, Rosaline has been dead to me.”
Fertan hesitated a lot before saying this because it felt like he spoke these harsh words to the dead Rosaline. But his expression was the same as before. Calm, as if it was someone else’s business. Only like this could Fertan look at her comfortably.
“So you’re saying you’re not sad?”
“…”
She couldn’t decipher the main point beneath his words, but she had still accurately stabbed his lungs. Fertan rubbed his rough beard a few times, hesitated, then opened his mouth.
“It’s hard to feel sad and mourn after cutting off-”
You have no sense of shame. Rosaline’s expression crumpled harshly, but Fertan only saw it as a simple, troubled expression. She was just like Rosaline in the past when she pondered hard about something.
Rosaline, whose gaze flickered back and forth for a while, opened her mouth.
“So, to be precise, you’re saying you’re not sad, right?”
“…”
She didn’t understand it at all. Fertan’s face now mirrored the unknown creature’s wearing his daughter’s skin. He realized that his feints weren’t enough. He thought he should’ve expressed his feelings more simply, clearly, and accurately.
After swearing once, Fertan said, “I meant, I am sad.”
It sounded more real after pulling it out of his mouth.
He was sad. The pain penetrated deep into his bones. Even if this was the result of him letting go of Rosaline. Even if this was the result of Rosaline letting go of his hand.
Whether or not Fertan’s face filled with remorse, Rosaline looked relieved, saying things like, ‘Oh, is that so?’ with an insincere look of consolation. How could you be relieved after making someone so emotional? Her reaction had Fertan worked up.
He looked at her for a long time and then opened his mouth.
“…How’s your body?”
“It doesn’t hurt.”
“There will be more injuries as long as you’re with His Highness Ricardis.”
“That’s all right.”
“I don’t know what you are, but you, too, will die.”
Considering he was looking at a strange creature in the shape of his dead daughter, his eyes were remarkably soft. Rosaline read the concern in his harsh voice.
“I won’t die.”
They weren’t sweet words to relieve the anxiety of the person in front of her. Her expression and tone were full of conviction. So different from the past when only pride and stubbornness held her facade together.
The moment he saw her walking the same path as in the past, Fertan asked as if possessed, “Why do you want to protect His Highness Ricardis?”
Fertan fumbled through his memories. From the silky-haired young Ricardis to the scruffy beggar boy of the past. What on earth did Rosaline see in Ricardis to want to protect him so much? He’d never once asked because it didn’t matter. Only the consequences of her actions were of concern. So he’d said don’t do it. He’d scolded her that she shouldn’t walk on that path.
A scapegoat for the imperial family and a daughter who lost her life protecting that scapegoat: just thinking about it, his fingertips became cold as if falling rain had constantly struck them for hundreds of hours. A deep resentment wandered around without finding a target and eventually returned to himself. It was only then that he became curious.
What the hell was my daughter, Rosaline, thinking? It might be a meaningless question now.
Clenching his fists so hard that the veins bulged at the back of his hands, Fertan looked at her. Rosaline crossed her arms and stared at her feet as if she was in deep trouble. Umm… Hmm… Ngg… She even made strange noises like an enthusiastic puppy whining for snacks.
Rosaline…
Rosaline opened her mouth and closed it again. She attempted to say, ‘Because Rosaline asked for it,’ but she eventually couldn’t. Her intuition had that answer engraved on her being. But for some time, it had no longer been the correct answer. Rosaline reflected.
She’d spent a long time deep in the forest, holding her breath and avoiding notice from anyone. Sometimes, she’d spent prolonged periods immersed in the sensation of floating in a fog. Then she’d wake up from time to time and consume magical energy from something dead. ‘It’ existed, but ‘It’ had been slowly dying because ‘It’ was in an area where death could not reach.
At that time, ‘It’ met ‘Rosaline’, and ‘It’ became Rosaline.
Even the slightest breeze or the scorching sunlight made Rosaline feel a different emotion from before. The face of the world she met for the first time was surprising and beautiful. The memories she had built up inside her chest gradually shone more and more brilliantly. Her heart pounded at the vivid emotions. Rosaline finally realized that she was alive.
The short time spent among humans had overshadowed the sum of all of ‘It’s’ time.
[Please protect him.]
[I will protect him.]
It’s been some time since the promise she gave ‘Rosaline’ evolved into her own personal oath.
But she didn’t know when and why it had changed that way.
My heart wants to protect him.
So when asked why she wanted to protect Ricardis, she became flustered. Rosaline tilted her head and asked Fertan a question.
“Then why are you trying to protect Radwiell County and Illavenia?”
Fertan’s beard twitched for a moment as if caught off guard. The man’s face became fierce, but Rosaline noticed he wasn’t offended. He was merely thinking about her question. Fertan answered after some deep thought.
“…Because they’re precious to me.”
“I see.”
Rosaline smiled.
“His Highness is precious to me. So, I will protect him.”
Certainty filled every word coming out of her mouth. Fertan felt an immovable force firmly rooted within her. Strong will and conviction. Such power burned inside one’s chest and moved people forward.
He’d thought that this creature could do nothing more than imitate humans. So what explains the existence of such passion?
A gust of wind blew across the floor and twirled toward the ceiling. Rosaline’s hair fluttered and swayed as if tracing the currents of the wind.
“What are you?”
Rosaline’s gaze stopped at his breastplate as her eyes moved around in response to Fertan’s question. Rosaline looked into herself, her image reflected in his silver armor.
[What are you?!]
Suddenly, she remembered her image, reflected on Calyx’s blade, cast in the light streaming from the moonlit window.
[I am the shadow.]
The vitality of the woman, this time bathed in sunlight, stirred.
[I am Rosaline’s shadow.]
“I am Rosaline.”
And she smiled brightly.
***
[…Let’s have a meal together soon.]
Fertan’s parting words weren’t unfamiliar. It was the farewell Rosaline received from many people after she entered the Imperial city. Why do people ask to have a meal every time we say goodbye? Despite her confusion, she excitedly and vigorously replied.
[Yes!]
But Rosaline, who hadn’t known that the cliche started with people interpreting, ‘Let’s have a meal soon’, as ‘It was nice to meet you today, I’ll see you again soon’, had gone to each person who’d brought it up and asked, ‘So when are we going to eat?’
It was a huge mistake for people who didn’t know her zeal for food. In the end, they had to face an uncomfortable situation where they had to eat an uncomfortable meal with an uncomfortable person after making a mistake in a ritual greeting.
After finding out everything, Raymond taught Rosaline that such a greeting was just words, and Rosaline was furious, asking why people made promises they wouldn’t keep. In any case, Rosaline realized that ‘Have a meal soon…’ was more like a farewell phrase.
[If there’s a flower named Radwiell, it must carry the meaning ‘relentless’ and ‘you can’t find any flexibility in them even if you wash your eyes in search of it’.]
So like what people’s mouths said about their family name, Fertan meant what he said, and three days later, he made an appointment for a meal.